Locomotive-engine



'UNITED srATEs iPairi'irrr orrion.

HORACE GRAY, Oli' BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

. Loc0MofrIVE-ENGINE.`

Specification of Letters Patent No. 17,213, dated May 5, 1857.

To all whom t may concern:

Beit known that I, HORACE GRAY, of Boston, in the State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Locomotive-Engines for Railroads, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of thisV specification, in which- Figure l., is an elevation partly in section of my improved plan; and Figs. 2, 3, and 4l, are elevations of different modes of applying my said invention.

Serious difliculties have been experienced in generating steam for locomotives, particularly with anthracite coal, the use of which is very desirable for manyreasons if itcould be applied as successfully and economically as it hasbeen in boilers for stationary and steamboat engines.

AAs locomotive engines have heretofore been constructed the grate and tire surface must of necessity be very muchcontracted, and in consequence the intensity of the lire in the furnace must be great-ly increased which results in a waste of fuel and in the rapid deterioration of the furnace and parts of the boiler in the vicinity thereof. And not only is this a necessary consequence with all kinds of fuel, but with anthracite coal other and more serious consequences result. Io obtain the required evaporation from a limited extent of grate and tire surface by increasing the intensity of the ire the charge of coal must be made of greater depth with an increased blast or draft to supply the increased demand for oxygen; from which two fatal consequences have resulted, viz- The tremulous motion and jars of the locomotive pa'ck down the charge of coal to such an extent as to greatly impede the draft or blast, and the heat becomes so intense at the grate bars and immediately above and around them that the coal soon slags and runs together completely shutting out the draft and seriously injuring the furnace.

There are other objections to the present system not necessary to be enumerated as those above stated will be suliicient to enable a competent engineer' to appreciate the importance of my improvement, the object of which is to enable me t-o increase the grate and fire surface to any extent necessary to an economical application of fuel, and to generate the steam of the quantity and tension desired by the extent of the grate and lboiler having two or more separate, fire boxes or furnaces, placed on the tender or `on a separate carriage, and the steam chamber or chambers connected with the engine by a pipe or pipes having universal joints to admit of the required motions. j

In the accompanying drawings (see Fig. l) a represents the carriage of a locomotive engine of the usual construction with a pilot truck b in front, and two pai-rs of driving lwheels c, c behind. Over or between the driving wheels I place a boilercl of any suitable construction and of sufficient weight to,-

jgive the required adhesion to the driving wheels. I place the lire box e, with its grate `f and other appendages at the rear end,.and make the grate and fire surface of such boiler of much greater proportional capacity than has heretofore been the practice in loco motive boilers, say of the proportional capacity best suited to the economical application of fuel, and without reference as heretofore to compactness. This boiler is to communicate with the engine cylinders in the usual or any other convenient way.

On the forward part of the tender g, coupled with the locomotive, I place a second boiler of any suitable construction, Aand of such capacity as to generate, in connection with the boiler on the engine, the required quantity of steam and at the desired tension to drive the engines. This boiler, however it may be constructed, I make with t-he extent of grate and lire surface adapted to the economy of fuel and not with the view to compactness. I then connect the steam chambers of both boilers by means of a pipe 7i with three ball and socket joints l, z', 2', of the usual construction, or by equivalent means, which will admit all the required play between the locomotive and the tender in starting and stopping and in passing over the curvatures and irregularities of the road. By this arrangement it will be seen that any desired extent of grate and fire surface can be obtained to use any and all kinds of fuel with economy by extent of surface instead of intensity of heat. The door of one furnace can be opened to ltend and feed the lire while the other is closed so thatthere will be less check to t-he generation of steam, and much greater facility will be presented for repair, while there will. be much less tendency to wear and tear, particularly when burning anthracite coal.

Instead of the above'arrangenient I have contemplated the application of the princi-v ple of my invention according to the following 1nodications-viz: IVhen great adhesion of the driving wheels is required I place the two boilers on one carriage as represented in Fig. 2 where a and Z) represent the two boilers, the steam chambers Vof which are connected by a pipe c there bgjng a' separate tire box or furnace for ea'ch boiler with the required extent'of grate and furnace'. But as the length occupied by two such boilers would of necessity be very great, the platform d, on which the boilers and. engines are placed may be mounted on two' four wheel trucks c, c, placed near the endsVv thereof and so connected as to swivel on the principle of the eight wheel car in general use. And the driving wheels 7", f,

which are connected with the engines g'on the platform d, may be connected by suitable pedestals in the usual manner with the under part of the said platform. In such an larrangement the driving wheels should be without flanches, or the play between the flanches and the rails should be so great that in passing around curves the whole structure will be guided by the flanches of the wheels of the trucks, the treads of the y driving wheels being suficiently wide to traverse laterally on the rails, or instead of the'above the two boilers may be placed on a separate carriage as'represei'ited in Fig. 3, where a represents the locomotive engine, b

Y'theV separate carriage, and c, d, the two boilers connected by a steam pipe el; theA also, or a separate tenderk may be connected therewith.

IVhat I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is- Constructing locomotive steam engines with two or more boilers, o-r with one boiler having two o'r more separate fire boxes or furnaces connected and operating oi the principle and for the purpose substantially Vas herein specified.

HORACE GRAY.

fitnesses MARCUS MoRToN, Jr.7 HORACE GRAY, Jr. 

